Re: PrC Contest VIII: Bow down to my Fist!

In the peaceful hills of De Da Pigu valley there is a temple for the training of female monks (nuns). Unfortunately for them many of the surrounding city-states are at war with one another, and many soldiers stop by to get healed. Or to get drunk and have their way with the women. For the Pigu nuns are famous for both their rice wine (it’s how they support the temple’s costs), and their natural beauty. And their being nuns make most believe that somehow they all have vows of chastity which isn’t the truth, but which makes them attractive to marauding bands of villains looking for a few innocents to plunder. Naturally the nuns have become pretty proficient at kicking behind because of this.

BECOMING A COMBAT NUN
Pretty much any woman spending time at the Pigu temple will become a member of this class, whether they want to or not.

Weapon Proficiencies: Combat Nuns become proficient in all Simple and Martial Bludgeoning Weapons.

Monk Abilities: Your Monk and Combat Nun levels stack for purposes of determining your Unarmed Damage and AC Bonus (and the number of times per day you may use Stunning Fist), and you may multiclass freely between this Prestige Class and Monk.

Combat Training (Ex): At levels 1, 4, and 7 you may choose a maneuver from the following list to learn and use in combat:

Spinal Tap: If your opponent is unsuspecting (i.e. you are behind him, he’s distracted, etc) you like to brutally fisticate his spinal column in a manner intended to cause him massive personal injury. Whenever your opponent is unaware of your presence, is flat-footed, or has lost his Dexterity Bonus to AC you may attack with an Unarmed Strike as a Full Round Action. If you are successful you do maximum damage with the strike and your opponent must make a Fortitude Save (DC is 10 plus half hit dice plus Strength Modifier) or die instantly. This attack doesn’t work on creatures immune to Critical hits or without discernable anatomy, and is not available until Level 7.

Kneecapin’: You stomp on your opponents knee, crushing the kneecap and bending his leg in a direction in a way it wasn’t meant to go. As a Full Round Action you may make an Unarmed Strike. If it hits successfully the opponent is Knocked Prone and his Movement rate is halved until he either is subject to a Cure Wounds spell or he gets medical attention (a weeks stay in a hospital). They must also make a Fortitude Save (DC is 10 plus half hit dice plus Strength Modifier) or permanently lose the use of that leg (a Heal or Regeneration spell will fix this). This attack doesn’t work on creatures immune to Critical hits or without discernable anatomy.

Chin Smash: You grab your opponents head and knee his lower jaw into his brain cavity. As a Full Round Action you may make an Unarmed Strike. If you hit successfully your opponent is Knocked Prone and Stunned 1 round. They must also make a Fortitude Save (DC is 10 plus half Hit Dice plus Strength Modifier) or be knocked Unconscious 1 round, and be Confused (as per the spell) for the rest of the encounter. This attack doesn’t work on creatures immune to Critical hits or without discernable anatomy.

De-groininator: You can knee your opponents groin so hard their pelvic bone shatters and flies into their heart killing them. Well not yet, but you hope one day it’ll be that horrifying. As a Full Round Action you may make an Unarmed Strike. If you hit successfully your opponent is Knocked Prone, and Dazed 1 Round. They must also make a Fortitude Save (DC is 10 plus half hit dice plus Strength Modifier) or instead they are Stunned 1 round, and Staggered for the rest of the encounter regardless of how many hit points they have. This attack doesn’t work on creatures immune to Critical hits or without discernable anatomy.

Drop the Big Elbow: If the Nun succeeds with a Trip Attack, she may immediately hit her opponent with an Unarmed Strike using her highest Attack Bonus as they lay prone as an Immediate Action (effectively dropping an elbow on their face as a nice follow-up to the trip).

Bad Chiropracty: You know how to manipulate your opponent’s spine and joints in bad ways. If you have your opponent successfully Pinned in a Grapple he must make a Fortitude Save each round the Pin is maintained (DC is 10 plus half hit dice plus Wisdom modifier) or be Paralyzed for 1d6 rounds. This attack doesn’t work on creatures immune to Critical hits or without discernable anatomy.

Iron Fist (Ex): At second level whenever you confirm a critical hit against an opponent with an unarmed strike you add +1d6 damage. This increases to +2d6 damage at level 5, and +3d6 damage at level 8.

Specialty Training (Ex): To keep the Temple’s nuns from being predictable the Head Nun decreed that they would all work on a special substyle of their own devising. That way foes wouldn’t know what to expect. At level 3 you get a Feat that simulates your particular substyle. Depending on which Feat you choose, you also get another Feat at levels 6 and 9 as followup training:

Butt Kickin’ Machine: Having long ago given up on transcendence or enlightenment, the Nuns have focused on whoopin’ butt instead. At 10th level their Unarmed Strikes do +4d6 damage on a confirmed critical. If they roll a natural ‘1’ on an attack roll with an Unarmed Strike they may spend a daily use of their Stunning Fist to reroll the attack as a Free Action (but they must accept the results of the second roll). Nuns also gain a Competence Bonus on all opposed combat checks (Bull Rush, Disarm, Grapple, Trip, etc.) equal to their Wisdom Bonus.

PLAYING A COMBAT NUN
You joined the nunnery to learn a trade, get the local men to stop pestering you for marriage, and live peacefully. It’s hard, but it’s a fulfilling life. And one day when you spot a man with potential you’ll leave the Temple and settle down. Bu till then you have to put up with bands of marauding brigands and soldiers. Well actually you always had to do that, now you can just fight back is all. You’d think the men would notice you for your wonderful devotion to the temple, your superb craftsmanship that enables you to produce the region’s best rice wine, etc. But no. All they notice is your magnificent ghetto bootay. Friggin’ drunks.Combat: Generally you specialize in putting the hurt on people as quickly and efficiently as possible. The goal being not to kill them so much as make them wish you had. That way they get the idea that picking on women is bad in general, and that some are capable of doing hideous damage by way of retribution. Also it’s kinda hard to tell the butt kickin’ women from regular ones, so it’s best to give them all a pass…Advancement: Most Combat Nuns tend to advance down pretty similar lines (mostly because they don’t often get much other choice). Every time they try to branch out and do something different the Ogre’s show up in town demanding wine and women, and it’s right back to kicking butt. Course if you ever have grandkids you’ll have some awesome stories to tell them about how you shoved your pinky finger through an Oni’s spine that one time…Resources: A Combat Nun always has her fellow sisters to draw upon for aid, as well as many a thankful townsperson whom they have rescued from the usual drifting vagabonds who wonder into town robbing and killing as they go. It’s like your life is a spaghetti western or something…

CLASS NAME IN THE WORLDI like…Kung Fu…Nuns and I cannot Lie! You otha brothas can deny!”

You get along pretty well with the locals. Outsiders not so much. Ousiders think just cause you’re a Nun you can’t hold your own. Well you’ll show em’. A good swift blow to the spine changes most of their attitudes right quick. Darn monsters wandering out of the mountains and grabbing you by the backside in the fields, who the hell do they think they are? And who is this Asmodeus they keep talking about like it’s supposed to impress you? The human brigands are just as bad. At this rate you’ll need to stop bathing just to ensure you get some peace and quiet…Daily Life: You spend much time teaching the local children, performing upkeep on the temple, tending the fields, and sundry other chores. Your daily assignments vary. But the one constant is Kung Fu training. You need to be able to defend yourself and the local innocents. Plus being able to beat up Trolls and call them sissies is awesome.Notables: Pusheng Toy (LG Female Human Monk 6/Combat Nun 6) is a local Nun of promising caliber. She has done well at her training and may even be ready for advancement to Headmistress status at the temple. As long as she can do something about that pesky Death Slaad who keeps trying to get her to marry him. Some alien demon frogs just don’t listen to the word “no”.Organizations: The Combat Nuns pretty much are an organization. They don’t have much in the way of political power, but the people love them more than the aristocracy so it’s wise for the nobility to listen to them if they don’t want the peasants ticked. They also don’t have a lot of money, but since they are well respected they can sometimes manage to get what they need from admirers.

NPC Reaction
Presuming the NPC isn’t drunk, evil, or a monster they pretty much adore you. You’re the holy lady who protects them after all. If they are drunk and/or evil the reaction is pretty much “Hey baby” or something even less imaginative.

COMBAT NUNS IN THE GAME
This class will definitely make the bad guys suspect women a bit more. Or at least lead them to think that they aren’t as helpless as they may seem regardless of the situation. But then there aren’t a lot of smart bad guys out there or there wouldn’t be a need for this class.Adaptation: This is meant for not entirely serious campaigns, or more specifically ones with a bit of edgy humor. Not that it can’t be easily enough adapted, but it’s generally not meant to be serious cause then the premise would be a little disturbing if it were realistic.Encounters: This is a place to describe what sort of encounters PC's will have with NPC versions of your class.

Sample EncounterEL 12: The PC’s are walking into a lovely local little village when they are greeted by the sight of a robed woman violently kneeing a soldier in the spine repeatedly before kicking him in the face and breaking his jaw. The villagers appear to be cheering her on. Might be wise not to pull any on games while you’re here…